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Monday, 12 September 2011
Page: 5692

Senator WRIGHT (South Australia) (13:42): I put on the record again my understanding that the very reason the last paragraph in the explanatory memorandum was inserted was after I made an assiduous effort to consult with both the RSL and the VVFA to clarify their concerns. I took those concerns to the government as they concerned me as well, particularly in relation to the degree of discretion that was potentially available to the Repatriation Commission and decision makers in the Department of Veterans' Affairs in implementing the scheme that would be in effect once the amendments were passed. My understanding after quite a degree of discussion was that there have always been administrative arrangements in place; that there was no intention as a result of the amendments to change those administrative arrangements; that they had worked and had operated effectively over quite a significant period of time and that no complaints had been received from the veterans community about those administrative arrangements. But, to ameliorate the concerns that I had, which were directly being passed on because of my consultation with the RSL and the VVFA, there was an agreement to add a further paragraph in the explanatory memorandum to clarify that there would be specific guidelines drafted to ensure the situation did not change and that there would be consultation with the ex-service organisations to allow input into those guidelines to again assuage their concerns.

Rather than, as has been suggested, some mucky deal being done where the concerns of two significant veterans associations, the RSL and the Vietnam Veterans Federation of Australia, are ignored or undermined, in fact it is the opposite. Late on Friday I was still relaying to the government my concern about unintended consequences of the amendments if they were to pass. I then in full transparency contacted those organisations and spoke to members of those organisations and conveyed to them my view that the changes to the explanatory memorandum would satisfy their concerns and it satisfied my concerns that the ultimate effect of passing these amendments, particularly schedule 2, would not have unintended consequences that would make the lot of veterans worse given that the assurance all the way through has been that that would not be the case.

Having given a lot of consideration to this matter, the Greens were of the view that, rather than waste the valuable time of the chamber, where there are beneficial provisions that presumably some veterans are waiting to take effect, the prisoner of war recognition provisions and other sensible provisions that would allow a sensible rationalisation of two very similar allowances, rather than holding those up unnecessarily and having satisfied myself that I had been open and thoughtful and considerate of the concerns of the VVFA and the RSL, I formed the view that it was appropriate to support the bill. That is why the Greens have taken the position that we have taken.